Odin, thou whirlwind, what a threat is thisThou threatenest what transcends thy might, even thine,For of all powers the mightiest far art thou,Lord over men on earth, and Gods in Heaven;Yet even from thee thyself hath been withheldOne thingto undo what thou thyself hast ruled. Matthew ArnoldBalder Dead. The Funeral.

The balance of power. BurkeSpeech. (1741). Sir Robt. WalpoleSpeech. (1741). John WesleyJournal, Sept. 20, 1790, ascribes it to the King of Sweden. A German Diet, or the Ballance of Europe. Title of a Folio of 1653.

To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to know its pleasures, we must go to those who are seeking it: the pains of power are real, its pleasures imaginary. C. C. ColtonLacon. P. 255.

Power, like a desolating pestilence,Pollutes whateer it touches; and obedience,Bane of all genius, virtue, freedom, truth,Makes slaves of men, and of the human frameA mechanized automaton. ShelleyQueen Mab. Pt. III.

I thought that my invincible power would hold the world captive, leaving me in a freedom undisturbed. Thus night and day I worked at the chain with huge fires and cruel hard strokes. When at last the work was done and the links were complete and unbreakable, I found that it held me in its grip. Rabindranath TagoreGitanjali. 31.

Et errat longe, mea quidem sententia,Qui imperium credat esse gravius, aut stabilius,Vi quod fit, quam illud quod amicitia adjungitur. And he makes a great mistake, in my opinion at least, who supposes that authority is firmer or better established when it is founded by force than that which is welded by affection. TerenceAdelph. Act I. 1. L. 40.